Creamy Corn Chowder for (almost) Fall

I'm so ready for Fall. Normally I'm not much of a Fall person, being everything is turning sort of brown and dying. Oh wait, that's what this summer looked like here - so I'm completely ready for a CHANGE of seasons to any season that includes cooler temps.

Enter Fall.

To hasten its arrival, this weekend I felt the need to whip up a batch of creamy potato soup. Only at my house, we can't call it potato soup because I have a son who completely believes he hates potatoes. It's all about the spin sometimes, so in an effort to have my potato soup and have everyone actually EAT said soup, I devised a plan. I'd add some corn and call it Golden Corn Chowder.

Sometimes I amaze even myself.

But here's where I was surprised...it actually is really great Corn Chowder. As in, the corn adds something I didn't quite expect but thoroughly enjoyed. So in my effort to trick the audience, I was actually the one tricked into discovering something even yummier than plain old potato soup.

The bottom line is that this is an extremely versatile recipe that can be made gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, or meat-a-sourus, whichever way you lean. The only thing it's can't be is dairy-free. Sorry dairy-free folks.

Golden Corn Chowder and a buttered roll - recipe after the jump!

Kid-friendly Tie Dye to Wear and to Eat!

What's not to love about tie dye? The colors are vibrant and cheerful, it's really fun to put your own spin on a pattern, and you end up with a creation all your own to wear! But the mess, the MESS. I really wanted to do some tie dye with the twins this summer but simply could not stomach the impending disaster we'd be in for with two 7-year-old Tasmanian devils boys and quite possibly a small toddler. I kept trying to figure out how I'd explain why my toddler was now completely dyed purple...not good, folks. So I put that thought aside.  

Pinterest to the rescue! At the end of the school year, the twin's art teacher asked for Sharpie markers and white t-shirts. 32 first graders made their own shirts using the Sharpies and NO MESS, so I started digging round Pinterest to see who perhaps had some experience/instructions for executing this miracle at home. I found a great site called Steve Spangler Science and then knew I alone could manage this project with not only two 7-year-olds, but THREE 7-year-olds. While still giddy, I allowed the twins to invite their good neighbor friend and fellow 7-year-old, C. We did these a couple of days before the 4th of July and we called the pattern "exploding fireworks" instead of boring old tie dye. All the boys had a ball! 

You need:

Wordle!

Love me some Wordle! It's easy to use and addictively fun. Here's one I created using the most common words from a book written by a college friend of mine. You should check it out: WSU Cougars from A to Z. 

Easy Peasy Pretty Pillows

These pillows are so easy to make that I whipped up a pair in one evening. The toughest part was picking the napkins. Yes, you heard that right.

Scrappy quilt love...

Been working on my 2012 year-long project (you can see the details over on my other blog 12 Quilts) but thought I'd just post some quilt-love here today. Only in my dreams I could make quilts like these. I also have a Quilting Daydreams board on Pinterest, so head over there and take a look at some really stellar quilts!

Check out the rainbow of colors, applique and piecing on this incredible quilt! And the quilting! I wonder how many hours this labor of love took? This was posted in Picasa by Jacque. I could stare at it for hours. Brava!

Now how about this beauty? I wish I could find a close up so I could see the quilting on it. I looked and looked. Rare Google fail. :( 

Homemade Caramels

I have always shied away from homemade candy. There's the fussiness of thermometers, and trying to figure out "soft ball" and "hard ball" stages. I think we tried to make candy in Home Ec (oh, there - I've just dated myself - good job Lis) and it was a resounding disaster. So for the better part of 30 years, I've been content to buy my candy and make other things.

Well not yesterday, folks.

I know there's a lot of controversy right now about Pinterest. I'm in "wait and see mode" at this point - I'm currently keeping my boards but re-pinning very cautiously to be sure I'm pinning the original, etc. Anyway, I found two recipes I simply could not avoid trying. Today I'll tell you about the Microwave Caramels. Yeah you heard me - mic-ro-wave.

That got my attention, too.

Cornbread Surprise

Love me some cornbread! Love me some cornDOGS! Do not love the frying, grease, and picking off the coating that comes with corndogs.

So I saw a post on Pinterest where someone had made cornbread muffins with a quarter of a hot dog in it. Clever! We're lazy around here, and muffins have a way of generating more crumbs that I want to deal with. Hence the birth of Cornbread Surprise. I can't figure out yet how to turn pictures, so I'm going to be missing a few - darn it all, Blogger! Anyway, the ingredients are simple - and you absolutely need an adorable little helper to come and steal a hot dog and eat it while you work. It's just sort of a rule.

TP Roll Flowers

3 amigos proud of their creations

I think it's a requirement...when you're a Mom, you save weird stuff like TP rolls. At the risk of providing TMI, you might be interested to know that Costco TP is great for a lot of reasons, not the least of which the TP is not glued to the roll very firmly. They are excellent for crafts. But I digress...